Bharatiya Jyotihshastra (History of Indian Astronomy), translated by R. V. Vaidya v1.c6.s2.6

v1.c6.s2.6

The history of astronomy has, therefore, been divided into two major divisions, viz., (i) the Siddhāntic period and (ii) the pre-Siddhāntic period, and accordingly this book has been divided into two parts. ‘Part One’ gives the history of how the people in pre-Siddhāntic age had taken increasing interest in astronomy, how the relevant knowledge had grown, and how it reached the stage of foretelling the true places of planets, this history being traced from the casual astronomical references found in the Vedas, Vedāṅgas Smṛtis and the Mahābhārata, and the subsequent history up to the present time is given in ‘Part Two’. The pre-Siddhāntic period and consequently Part One, has again been sub-divided into two sections : (i) the Vedic period and (ii) the Vedāṅga period. The first section deals with the history of astronomy collected from references found in the Vedic Saṃhitās, Brāhmaṇic works and some Upaniṣads. The second section deals with the history of astronomy gleaned from the Vedāṅgas, the Smṛti works and the Mahābhārata. The Vedāṅgas contain two works whose whole subject matter is astronomy. These, however, deal with the mean motions and positions of planets and they are more ancient than the Siddhānta works, and that is why their study is given a place in Part One. A discussion of the limits of the periods to be assigned to the Vedic, the Vedāṅga and the Jyotiṣa-Siddhānta ages is given at the end of the part. ‘Part Two’ is devoted to the history of the three branches of astronomy.